The short answer

Recycling a mattress in this metro means paying a per-unit fee at a facility that takes them, and getting it there yourself. Check the current fee and hours before you go, and check whether they take box springs as well — some take one and not the other.

The alternative is a flat price with the carry included: twin $82, full $94, queen $103, king $114, box spring $92, mattress and box spring set $143. Minimum $75 per visit.

We route mattresses to recycling wherever a facility will take them, and the disposal route does not change your price.

What actually gets recycled out of a mattress

Most of it, which is why this is worth doing rather than landfilling.

  • Steel. The innerspring unit and the box spring's frame. This is the valuable part and it goes straight into the scrap stream.
  • Foam. Polyurethane gets shredded and reprocessed, most commonly into carpet underlay.
  • Fiber and felt. Padding layers get recovered into industrial felt and filler.
  • Wood. Box spring frames are timber, which goes to mulch or biomass.
  • Fabric. The ticking is the least recoverable part and often the only piece that is genuinely waste.

The catch is that all of it has to be dry to separate cleanly. A mattress that sat in an alley through a Minneapolis rain and a snow is much harder to process, and in some cases stops being recyclable at all. That is the strongest practical argument against the leave-it-outside plan.

Recycling versus disposal, honestly compared

Doing it yourself. Cheapest in cash. You pay a per-unit fee at the facility and nothing else. It requires a vehicle a queen mattress actually fits in, a free weekday or Saturday morning, and the mattress already being at ground level.

Retailer take-back. If a new mattress is being delivered, arrange removal of the old one at checkout. Often the cheapest route of all. Delivery day only, one for one, and many crews will not carry from a half-story bedroom.

Flat-price pickup. $103 for a queen, $143 for a set. Includes the carry from any floor, the load, the drive, and routing to recycling where a facility takes it.

Nobody should feel clever about choosing the first option if the mattress is upstairs. The fee is not the expensive part of a DIY mattress trip. The expensive part is the hour you spend getting it down a 1920s staircase and the roof rack you do not own.

Why the DIY version is harder here than it sounds

Three Minneapolis-specific frictions.

The half-story. In the bungalow belt — Nokomis, Standish, Hiawatha, Field, Bancroft, Keewaydin — the bedroom is up a narrow staircase with a turn at the top. A mattress flexes around it. A box spring does not, and a queen box spring stuck on a bungalow staircase is one of the most common calls we get.

The vehicle. A queen does not go in a sedan and it does not go safely on a roof across the Crosstown in a crosswind. Renting a truck for one mattress puts the day rate, the mileage, the fuel and the facility fee all on one item.

The season. Facility runs are a warm-weather activity here. Strapping a mattress into an open truck bed in February, driving it across the metro, and unloading it in a wind chill is a genuinely unpleasant hour.

What not to do with a mattress in this city

Do not put it in the alley without a scheduled pickup. It is illegal dumping, it gets traced to the address it is behind, and a mattress is the single most conspicuous object you can leave on an apron.

Check your city's bulky-item page for the current per-item charge and the set-out day if you want the municipal route. Minneapolis proper, Richfield, St. Louis Park and Edina all run their own arrangements and they do not match.

And do not put one out between December and March under any circumstances. It gets snowed on, the plow pushes a ridge around it, it freezes to the pavement, and it becomes an obstruction nobody can move until the thaw. It also stops being recyclable somewhere in week two, because it is now full of water.

Donation is mostly not an option

Worth stating plainly so you do not spend a week on it. The great majority of Twin Cities charities decline used mattresses outright. The few that accept them apply condition rules that exclude nearly everything people are trying to get rid of: no stains, no tears, no sagging, no pet damage, no bed bug history anywhere in the building.

Resale is similarly narrow. A nearly-new mattress from a guest room in Linden Hills or Fulton will sell. A four-year-old one from a rental near campus will not, at any price.

If yours is genuinely clean and recent, make one phone call and put up one listing. Give it a week. If it does not move, recycling is the right end for it.

Worked totals

  • Queen set. Mattress and box spring set $143. Cheaper than queen $103 + box spring $92 = $195, so take the set price.
  • Set plus the frame. Set $143 + bed frame $68 = $211.
  • Two kids' twins. Two twin mattresses at $82 each = $164.
  • King bedroom. King mattress $114 + box spring $92 = $206.
  • Student turnover near campus. Twin mattress $82 + futon $111 = $193.
  • Landlord turnover, whole unit. Quarter truck $241, which usually beats itemizing once bags and boxes are involved.

Plain addition of published rates, with the carry from any floor included and no stair charge.

Frequently asked questions

Is a mattress actually recyclable?

Yes, and most of it gets recovered — steel from the springs, foam into carpet underlay, fiber into felt, wood from the box spring frame. The ticking is usually the only genuine waste.

What does mattress recycling cost in Minneapolis?

A per-unit fee at a facility that takes them, plus getting it there. Check the current rate and whether they take box springs too. Flat pickup with the carry included is $103 for a queen and $143 for a set.

Do you recycle the mattresses you collect?

We route them to recycling wherever a facility will take them. Your price is the same either way — $103 for a queen whether it ends up recycled or not.

Does it matter if the mattress got wet?

Yes. Materials have to be dry to separate cleanly, so a mattress that has sat outside through rain or snow is much harder to recycle and sometimes cannot be. That is the best reason not to leave one in the alley.

Can I donate it instead?

Almost certainly not. Most Twin Cities charities decline used mattresses outright and the rest apply condition rules that exclude nearly everything. Give it one week if it is genuinely clean and recent.